


December 8th: An Unexpected Gift

by Rivermoon1970



Category: Criminal Minds, Elementary (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Christmas, Depression, Love and Hope, M/M, Recovery, losing hope
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2016-12-04
Packaged: 2018-09-06 12:47:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8752012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rivermoon1970/pseuds/Rivermoon1970
Summary: Aaron is in rehab after he got in an altercation with Cruz, but no one has tried to come see him. He's losing all hope till an unexpected visitor shows up and gives him something to fight for.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [ProfilersForChristmas2016](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/ProfilersForChristmas2016) collection. 



Aaron didn’t want to be sitting here in Group. He didn’t really want to be anywhere but his room. He looked down at his hands as they shook slightly, after three months he thought the tremors would be gone by now, but they weren’t. 

“...Aaron, do you have anything to say?” Dr. Watson asked as she sat looking right at him.

“No.” Aaron’s stoic mask was in place as was his customary glare.

“It’s been two months since you started group and you haven’t shared with us, Aaron. Part of the healing is to let go of those things that made us turn to our particular drug of choice. You aren’t helping yourself by keeping things in.”

Aaron huffed out a laugh as he turned to look at one of the stark white walls of the therapy room. He took a deep breath then turned his glare back on the counselor.

“I wouldn’t even know where to begin, and many of the things that got me here I actually can’t talk about.”

“Because of the nature of your work?”

“You mean the work I was fired from?” The bitter angry tone surprised even him.

“Yes. Maybe you can start there, tell us why you were fired.”

“Let's see, I think punching out my boss will do it. Are we done now?” 

He saw the Doctor visibly sigh as she turned and looked at the clock.

“Yes, we’re done for today.” She didn’t let her gaze wander from Aaron as he stared her down. When everyone else had left the room she stood, grabbed a chair, and sat in front of Aaron. “You need to start opening up or the things that got you here will send you right back into the bottle. I’m trying to help you, but you don’t seem willing to want to help yourself. Don’t you want to get back home? Back to your son?”

Aaron’s eyes hardened as he looked at the Doctor.

“My son is all I think about, but you won’t let me see him.” Dr. Watson noticed the clenched jaw and fists. The man was a ball of emotions that he was holding on to too tightly, but she just didn’t know how to break through.

“Not until you’ve made some progress Aaron, and you haven’t. I know your background, and I know you could try to talk circles around me, but you haven’t. The longer you resist, the longer it will take to get you out of here.”

Aaron closed his eyes a moment. He knew she was right, and that he was in a hell of his own making, but it was hard for him to open up. Even after Haley, he talked his way out of the Bureau assigned therapist, but this Dr. Joan Watson was smarter, she’d been there, and she wasn’t letting him get away with anything.

“And what do I have to go back to? I’ve lost everything.” Aaron put his head in his hands and let out a shuddering breath. The shaking was back and he suddenly felt more fragile than the day he was ordered here by a Judge and the Bureau.

“I think this is the first honest thing you have said. Why do you feel like you’ve lost everything Aaron?”

He lifted his head and looked right at her, taking a shaky breath he lost himself a moment as a tear slipped down his cheek.

“Because I have. The people I thought were my friends haven’t even tried to contact me. My Sister-in-Law is suing for custody of Jack, and my job, my career, is gone. What do I have left?” Aaron abruptly stood and made his way back to his room, not even looking back once to see the sadness and frustration on Dr. Watson’s face. 

The Dr. knew he needed something, some sign that something was waiting for him when he got out. If everyone he cared about truly had abandoned him, she knew how hard it would be for him to want to even try. She had to do something drastic, and she knew the perfect person to help. If anyone was as stubborn and bullheaded as Aaron Hotchner, it was her partner-in-crime, Sherlock Holmes. It was also nearing Christmas, so she hoped that she could pull something off because right now what Aaron needed was hope.

___________________________

Aaron was sitting in his room gripping the letter he had sent to the one person he thought he could reach out to. It had been returned to him, and he didn’t even know why. He knew he had screwed up. The drinking had steadily gotten worse after Peter Lewis, but he never used his temper on anyone around him. The only person he had truly gotten angry at was Cruz. It didn’t even really matter anymore why he had punched out his boss, but he had and he knew he had to take responsibility for it. But what he told the Doctor was true. What did he have to fight for? 

His hands were shaking again as he tried to hold the book that he got from the library. He didn’t even know why he grabbed it in the first place, it just took him back to memories and places that he didn’t want to go, but it had been a favorite of  _ his  _ once and Aaron had never taken the time to actually read it. When it showed up in the Library, he felt compelled to check it out. Now he sat there with  _ Empty Planet  _ in his hand, the letter curled up under the book and tears falling down his face.

He set book and letter on his nightstand and turned to look outside. The trees were all decorated with Christmas lights, the walkways had those large light-up candy canes, and other holiday decorations. When a volunteer had gone to everyone’s room with decorations and trees, he refused. He had to have some kind of control in a place where he felt so out of control. He laid down on his side and stared out there at the festive look of it all and just felt so broken.

Christmas had always been special. He tried to make it special for Jack. They would decorate the apartment, then later on the house he had found for them. A tree, that was just right. They would spend a whole day together decorating it, and the house. Presents would lay under it and Jack would get excited the closer it got to the day. It wasn’t always about the gifts, but about the people he was surrounded by. Jessica, Jack, sometimes Reid...Aaron let out a strangled sob when he thought about the genius. He curled up on the bed and closed his eyes and a part of him just didn’t want to open them again. 

Aaron hadn’t realized he had fallen asleep till he was waking-up to his alarm going off. It was the one that let him know that dinner was ready. He shut it off and stumbled out of bed, and went to his small bathroom. Looking in the mirror he didn’t even recognize himself. He had let his beard get scraggly, he looked tired, and the depression was making him look older than he really was. He let out a breath and knew that he had to start somehow, somewhere, so he shaved and changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt from the pajamas that he had kept himself in the last few weeks. After getting cleaned up he made his way to the dining room and grabbed a tray.

“Well, you clean up nice Aaron.” The voice next to him almost startled him.

“Dr. what are you doing here?”

“I knew it was your dinner time and I have a surprise for you. That is if you’re up for it?”

The Doctor had been slowly hammering at him since his almost melt-down in group a couple of weeks earlier. He wasn’t sure if he was ready for any surprises, he felt like if one more thing came down on him, he’d truly break.

“I don’t know.” His heart was hammering in his chest as he frowned.

“Don’t worry, this is a good thing. Put your tray down, go grab your coat, and meet me near the glass doors to the patio.”

Aaron wasn’t sure he liked where this was going, but he did as the Doctor asked, he wasn’t sure why, but anything right now that was a break from his routine was a welcome distraction. 

When he found the Doctor again she had been joined by a man that looked to be in his late thirties, early forties. He was wound tighter than Aaron had seen anyone before, even some of his unsubs. Aaron studied him a moment and notice a dichotomy in the man. He was all nerves and constant micro movements, but his eyes betrayed a kindness he rarely saw in anyone.

“Hello. I’m Sherlock Holmes. I was tasked by my partner here to help you out. I want to say that you have a remarkable friend, and I hope you take this opportunity. I’ve been where you are at, Mr. Hotchner, and I know exactly what it’s like to fight for yourself when you think that there’s nothing left to fight for. Know that it can get better, but only if you are willing to work.” The precise accent told Aaron where the man was from, and there was a slight arrogance surrounding his whole being, but the sincerity of his words betrayed his short, clipped manners.

“What is this?” Aaron asked as he frowned.

“Go through the doors and see, Aaron. It was the only thing I could think of that would help you. And, both Sherlock and I do know how hard it is, especially when you feel you’ve lost everything. Please, we want to help you.”

Aaron took a shaky breath as he opened the door, not really ready for any surprises, but feeling obligated to accept whatever it was that Dr. Watson and this Sherlock Holmes had done for him. Complete strangers had shown him compassion and it humbled him. Aaron stepped out onto the warmed patio to see someone sitting there that he truly thought he’d never see again.

“Reid,” Aaron called out softly and almost felt the weight of all his grief and depression buckle under him seeing the one person he thought would have stood by him. Reid was out of seat like a shot and grabbed Aaron by the waist to help hold him up.

“Hotch,” Reid said softly as he was grabbed in a tight hold. Aaron laid his head on Reid’s shoulder and all his pain and grief came pouring out. It was several minutes till he could get himself under control then he was breaking away and sitting at the table, his face flushed with embarrassment.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, Hotch, you have nothing to be sorry about. I’m the one who should be sorry. Sherlock told me you’ve been writing to me, but all your letters have been returned to you. That’s my fault, I moved and I forgot to put in a forwarding address.”

“You...you moved? Why? I thought you liked your place.”

Spencer was quiet for a few moments then laid a hand on Aaron’s. 

“I was going to tell you, but I thought you were angry with me. I heard about what Jessica was doing, but with the situation with her father, I knew the court wasn’t going to let her have Jack. And with you in here, they were going to put him in Foster Care. I couldn’t let that happen. You were going to be contacted soon anyway. I got temporary custody and have moved into the house so that Jack’s life didn’t have to be upended. Jessica’s anger at you, and her issues with Roy compounded everything into her not letting you see Jack. I knew something was terribly wrong when I found out that no one had tried to come see you when you have been allowed visitors for at least the last six weeks. I’m on temporary leave from the team so that I can be there for Jack, and now for you.”

Aaron sat there stunned as his heart beat fast in his chest and his hand shook a bit.

“Why?” Was the only thing he could think of to ask.

“Because Aaron Hotchner, you were the only person there for me when I was struggling. First after Hankel, then after Maeve, you understood me like no one else really did. I should have been there for you after Lewis, and I wasn’t, I’m sorry Hotch.”

Aaron swallowed hard then looked up into Reid’s face and he saw something in his eyes he hadn’t seen in a long time. Friendship, caring, compassion, and something deeper. He didn’t know what possessed him when he leaned forward and pulled Reid to him and kissed him, but for once he didn’t think, he just did. When he started to pull away, Reid grabbed his shirt and pulled him back, kissing him back. It was sweet, sloppy, tender, rough, everything all at once and something bloomed deep in Aaron’s heart that hadn’t been there in a while. Hope. 

He pulled back and pressed his forehead to Reid’s and gently touched his cheek with his fingers.

“Now, Spencer, tell me the truth, why? Why did you do all of that?”

Spencer smiled as he too touched his fingers to Aaron’s face.

“Because I love you, dammit. And, I love Jack, all those weekends, and movie nights. Late dinners on cases, early mornings at random police stations sharing coffee, plane and train rides. Everything Aaron, everything made me fall in love with you. And I’m sorry if you thought you were alone, but you aren’t. I promise you aren’t alone.”

“You called me Aaron.”

“You called me Spencer.” The two men shared a laugh then slowly broke apart. Only then did Aaron look at the table. 

“Chinese?”

“Of course.” Aaron laughed the first true laugh in months as Spencer brandished a fork.

“I love you too Spencer.” Aaron finally admitted it to himself the same time he admitted it to Spencer. The blinding smile he got from the genius made his heart stutter for a moment, then silently they dug into the dinner Spencer brought for them. They talked quietly as they ate, then walked hand-in-hand around the gardens, neither of them caring about the cold. When they circled back to the patio, Aaron took Spencer’s face gently in his hands and kissed him again.

“Thank you. You don’t know what this means Spencer.”

“Actually, I do. And from today forward, I’m here for you Aaron.”

With one more kiss they reluctantly said their goodnights, and Aaron slipped into his bed falling asleep easily for the first time in weeks. That hope that started earlier in the night grew and he knew he now had something to fight for.

_________________________________

Christmas morning dawned bright as Aaron got up early. He had been doing well in therapy, opening up more and more, doing the hard work he promised Spencer he would do. In fact, he had done well enough to earn the privilege of a shopping trip with an escort. He was grateful to Doctor Watson for letting him have the two hours she gave him. He was cautiously excited as he looked at the small decorated tree sitting on his dresser. He fingered the gifts he had there, then went to take a shower.

When he was done getting dressed and was in the dining room, the residents being treated to pumpkin pancakes for breakfast, Aaron was sitting down and eating, sipping his coffee when someone sat down in front of him.

“Sherlock.” The smile he gave the man was genuine, and he fingered the small gift he had in his pocket for him. “Dr. Watson said you might show this morning. I ah, I have something for you.”

“You did not have to get me anything Aaron.”

“Please, just open it.”

Sherlock took the small gift and opened it up. When he saw what it was he was stunned.

“You should keep this.”

“No, I want you to have it. If it hadn’t been for you I wouldn’t be here today Sherlock.”

“It’s your one month chip, I..”

Aaron gently laid a finger on it and looked Sherlock in the eye.

“Please.”

“Okay.” Sherlock fingered the chip and smiled at Aaron. They talked for a bit, Aaron finding out that Sherlock was going to stay in DC for awhile. He found it fascinating and he’d already ingratiated himself into the DC Metro police. Aaron thought of Will and almost laughed.

Aaron heard voices and looked up to see Spencer walking into the dining room with someone else next to him. Aaron’s heart almost stopped when the boy flew across the dining room and flung himself into Aaron’s arms.

“Jack,” Aaron cried softly against the boy as he held him tight. Tears in his eyes as Spencer approached.

“I thought it only appropriate to bring Jack for Christmas.” Spencer and Sherlock introduced themselves and Aaron somehow knew the two were going to get along. That would certainly be fun to watch. Especially since Sherlock offered to be Aaron’s sponsor when he got out of rehab.

“Dad, I’ve missed you,” Jack cried against his chest.

“I’ve missed you too buddy. I love you so much.”

“I love you Dad.”

Aaron looked up at Spencer’s smiling face and knew, this unexpected gift was the only gift he needed. His family, right here all together. The rest would work itself out in time. He had something to fight for, and his hope grew even more. This was going to be the best Christmas ever.

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:**
> 
>  
> 
> It's the holidays, but Aaron Hotchner was spending it still in re-hab. He had been there three months already working through his anger issues and his drinking. No one had come to see him, not even his best friend, Dave. It was his own fault, really. That's what happens when you punch out the Section Chief.  Alone, depressed and lonely Aaron was trying to find a reason to stay. Then, the last person he thought he'd ever see walked in, and with a gift...a reason to fight.


End file.
